I recommend the Warwick Star Bass. It has become my main bass!
Here is my demo of it:
Here is my demo of it:
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Semi Hollow-which one?
- Thread starter Fender2015
- Start date
Yamaha BEX4, if you can find one. I never can. Fastest neck on any hollow bass I ever played, and a great, great sound.
I like the Dub King By Reverend. It might surprise you!
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I owned a couple of Epiphone Jack Casady basses over the past 10 years or so. The first one I got was a gold top, and it had problems. The set neck started to separate from the body within the first year or so of me owning the bass. It was under warranty and went back to Epiphone. They evaluated it and determined that it wasn't worth repairing, so they offered to replace it with a new instrument. Around that time I found that the gold top finish looked a *LITTLE* ostentatious, and I asked if my replacement could be an Ebony version. Sure enough, Epiphone was ready and willing to work with me and I got a Jack Casady bass in black.
I played my Ebony Jack Casady on plenty of gigs and jams. And I discovered that bass sounded FANTASTIC with tapewound strings. And with the varitone circuit that bass had a lot of tonal versatility. But recently I got the itch for another hollowbody. Since I couldn't justify owning TWO hollowbody basses I let the Jack Casady go. My feeling is this: if I get in a position where owning two hollowbodies is practical, I can probably find a decent Jack Casady out there. They're very reasonably priced. Especially for a bass that sounds and plays as well as the Casady. The only hitch? Shipping a Jack Casady bass in the original hardshell case can be quite pricey!
I replaced my JCSB with a Gibson Midtown Standard hollowbody. Again, in ebony. I've just been digging black basses lately. What drew me to this model? Well, that giant humbucker right at the end of the neck for one! I had also had a near transcendental experience playing a 2 pickup version of a vintage Gibson EB-2 back in the 90's. That particular bass sounded HUGE!!!! But with budget in mind I couldn't afford a vintage EB-2. But I really did like the sound of a 2 pickup hollowbody.
Now mind you, Gibson has changed the Midtown bass. The Midtown Standard was retired at the end of 2013, and the pricier Midtown Signature was introduced. Personally, I preferred the body shape as well as the price of the Midtown Standard. The Signature model is significantly more expensive (at least MAP price is), and the body is actually shaped like the Jack Casady. So I started searching for a Midtown Standard. While a number of etailers had blown them out for a pretty sweet price earlier this year, either the prices had gone up or the supply had gone down. I contacted one of my go-to musical instrument shops, and they were able to get a 2013 Midtown Standard for me from Gibson. Evidently they still have some inventory. So about a month ago I sold the Jack Casady and got the Midtown. It's definitely a different bass. I personally dig the thump. And the two pickup configuration gives me some options that weren't really present with the Casady. Best of all? The buyer of my Casady was cool with me keeping my old tapewound strings. And those went right onto the Midtown!
All of that being said, I've had the opportunity to play the Lakland Skyline hollowbody. It's definitely a pretty sweet bass, and absolutely worth checking out. I've also checked out a number of Youtube demos of the Warwick Star Bass II. That sounds great, too. Unfortunately I've never actually seen one in person. It may sound like cliché advise, but try as many of these instruments as you can before you buy. While the hollowbodies of the 60's were kind of fickle beasts, I think the advances in hollowbody construction, pickups and amplification make them a much more viable option than they were 40+ years ago.
I played my Ebony Jack Casady on plenty of gigs and jams. And I discovered that bass sounded FANTASTIC with tapewound strings. And with the varitone circuit that bass had a lot of tonal versatility. But recently I got the itch for another hollowbody. Since I couldn't justify owning TWO hollowbody basses I let the Jack Casady go. My feeling is this: if I get in a position where owning two hollowbodies is practical, I can probably find a decent Jack Casady out there. They're very reasonably priced. Especially for a bass that sounds and plays as well as the Casady. The only hitch? Shipping a Jack Casady bass in the original hardshell case can be quite pricey!
I replaced my JCSB with a Gibson Midtown Standard hollowbody. Again, in ebony. I've just been digging black basses lately. What drew me to this model? Well, that giant humbucker right at the end of the neck for one! I had also had a near transcendental experience playing a 2 pickup version of a vintage Gibson EB-2 back in the 90's. That particular bass sounded HUGE!!!! But with budget in mind I couldn't afford a vintage EB-2. But I really did like the sound of a 2 pickup hollowbody.
Now mind you, Gibson has changed the Midtown bass. The Midtown Standard was retired at the end of 2013, and the pricier Midtown Signature was introduced. Personally, I preferred the body shape as well as the price of the Midtown Standard. The Signature model is significantly more expensive (at least MAP price is), and the body is actually shaped like the Jack Casady. So I started searching for a Midtown Standard. While a number of etailers had blown them out for a pretty sweet price earlier this year, either the prices had gone up or the supply had gone down. I contacted one of my go-to musical instrument shops, and they were able to get a 2013 Midtown Standard for me from Gibson. Evidently they still have some inventory. So about a month ago I sold the Jack Casady and got the Midtown. It's definitely a different bass. I personally dig the thump. And the two pickup configuration gives me some options that weren't really present with the Casady. Best of all? The buyer of my Casady was cool with me keeping my old tapewound strings. And those went right onto the Midtown!
All of that being said, I've had the opportunity to play the Lakland Skyline hollowbody. It's definitely a pretty sweet bass, and absolutely worth checking out. I've also checked out a number of Youtube demos of the Warwick Star Bass II. That sounds great, too. Unfortunately I've never actually seen one in person. It may sound like cliché advise, but try as many of these instruments as you can before you buy. While the hollowbodies of the 60's were kind of fickle beasts, I think the advances in hollowbody construction, pickups and amplification make them a much more viable option than they were 40+ years ago.
Gretsch electromatic
G5440LS
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...e=&network=g&gclid=CO2-mYKmhcECFSkA7AodMyUACA
G5440LS
http://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...e=&network=g&gclid=CO2-mYKmhcECFSkA7AodMyUACA
I settled on the ProSeries – Korean. It's really friggin sweet. I'll post pictures.
I have played every model you mentioned many times. Out of them I would choose the Coronado although it's not much like the vintages ones. The rest are far too clean for my taste in semi and full hollowbodies. I'd strongly recommend springing for a Starfire over the Coronado though.
I had one in white mother of toilet seat,and really loved the overall sound and feel of it,but did not like the jumbo frets,so i traded it for a fretless Carvin AC 40,which is a great bass.
